Lesson 13: Assessment and Curriculum

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material students will be able to:

• Students will reflect on observations using developmental domains.
• Students will describe the process of identifying children to observe.
• Students will describe observing play areas in a classroom.
• Students will write down observations.

Teaching

Read chapter five in Developmentally Appropriate Practice (pg 178-182)

Preschool teachers are constantly observing how children respond to and participate in the planned activities. Educators record children’s strengths and interests and which areas children struggle or avoid. Assessment is continuous. It is essential programs have an assessment process that helps with planning. Authentic assessment is recommended in early education and used most frequently.

Authentic assessment is based on everyday interactions between children and teachers. The most reliable data can be collected through teacher observation of children every day in a variety of situations. Educators see trends in children’s performance and can rule out times when a child is not feeling well or is not giving their full attention to a task. It is important to document what is seen and heard. Observations can be focused in several ways:

• By developmental domains and learning goals
• By individual children or groups of children
• By play area or activity

Focusing Observations on Developmental Domains and Learning Goals

Preschool teachers need to focus their observations to gain information about a whole child. They pay attention to the developmental domains: language arts, math, social studies, science, social/emotional development, approaches to learning, and physical development. Often educators will choose one domain to make observations. They observe exclusively for that domain. Preschool teachers facilitate children’s play and group participation to focus their observations and documentation. As stated in an earlier lesson, each educator finds a framework for documentation that works for them. The key is to find a framework form that works and use it frequently.

When preschool teachers do not have an identified focus for observations by specific learning goals or domains, they may miss some opportunities for documentation. Often an educator will focus on an area that they enjoy when observing. This allows for missed opportunities to observe other domains or learning goals. It becomes more difficult to keep up with the assessment process and end up with holes instead of a well-rounded picture of what each child can do.

Once observations are written down or pictures have been taken, it is important to ask questions like: What was the primary focus of the observation? Is it a behavior or is it a slowly developing social/emotional development? Is it Math or Science? Is it language? Is it reading or writing (literacy)? Is it fine or large motor? Once it is decided which domain or goal the observation covers, then it is time to see if there are more observations in one category than in the others.

Identifying Children to Observe

Preschool teachers often have a list of children that they plan to observe. Often the list is divided among classroom staff so all children are observed in a timely manner and so one staff can focus all their attention to four or five children. The groupings of children are rotated often because different adults often see different things in a child’s performance and behavior. Providers frequently meet to exchange information about children. These meetings can be an informal gathering at the end of the day or through scheduled class meeting or staff meetings.

It is important to determine which children will be observed and by whom. These observations take place throughout the entire day and week while regular activities occur. By having a prepared list, a preschool teacher can continually return to it after dealing with children who require more assistance or attention. This list helps keep the focus on specific children resulting in a higher number of positive observations.

Observing the Play Areas of the Classroom

When observing specific play areas educators can gain information about the children in a variety of activities. The observations will probably relate to learning goals and often to developmental domains also. By observing in a specific play area a preschool teacher is able to provide adult supervision, scaffold children’s learning and document the observations. An educator also learns which children enjoy the area, avoid the area, play alone, and which children interact with each other. Teachers can use the information gathered to learn more about children’s chooses in specific areas. This information is important because:

• Children often choose to do things at which they are competent or have mastered the skill
• Children may choose something they are just learning to do and want to practice
• Children avoid areas or activities in which they have a weakness or under developed skills

Writing Down Your Observations

Preschool teachers are constantly observing the children in their class. However, they don’t often write them down. This causes a problem later when it is forgotten or the memory is vague and a teacher cannot remember which child or which observations belong together. It takes time to write down complete observations, however if a teacher uses clipboards, sticky notes or index cards and has them placed around a classroom with writing implements, quick notes can be written down to serve as a memory jogger. Later when looking at the notes a teacher can fill out the documentation with greater detail.

Photos are a great way to document what children are doing. Using digital cameras allows for easy downloading for writing up a more detailed description of what a child is doing. Work samples can also be used when documenting children’s work. Keeping children’s work and writing an anecdotal or observational note describing what a child did and said. Some children want to take all their work home. In those instances, a photo of their work may be taken to save for a portfolio.

At times a preschool class has all children engaged. This is a perfect time to start documenting. Experienced observers may have a list of observation needed by domain or learning goals for specific students. This lull may be a great time to make those observations. These observations do not take away from interacting with other children. It is okay to talk with children, asking questions, and including that information when writing up assessments.

Observations can take place during other times of the day also. During transitions, circle, meals and outside play teachers have opportunities to focus on different aspects of the activity. Following directions and vocabulary can be observed, peer and teacher interactions can be observed, comprehension and prediction skills can be observed along with foods children like and dislike.

It is important to write down observations as factual as possible. It is not an observer’s job to interpret, evaluate or judge the observation. It is important to quote child’s words and describe a child’s actions. This is not the place for opinion.

Something to think about: Remember several lessons ago when you were asked to make a list of the students in your care. Reflect on that activity and think about which children might be missed when doing observations if you are not using a list of students to be observed.

What Do You Do with Your Observation?

Once a preschool teacher has collected all these observations and data, it is important to use the information productively. The information gathered gives teachers evidence to support assessment conclusions and helps them remember what they see as children’s abilities. Educators can refer back to their documentation to answer the following questions:

• How is a child showing what she can do? What is she accomplishing?
• Where has the child progressed?
• What are some areas or skills that she is working on that may need further support?

These questions can be answered when looking at a child’s documentation that has been organized in a portfolio organized by domains. A portfolio contains work samples, photographs and observation forms that demonstrate a child’s competence. Another way to organize a portfolio may be to organize focused observations of a child’s growth and relate those observations to developmental milestones. The textbook also offers a Portfolio Collection Form. It really makes no difference which presentation format a preschool teacher chooses. The important thing is that a choice is made and it is used throughout the year.

In addition to using the observations to document children’s growth, they can also be used to develop classroom curriculum. Recently I observed children watching dump trucks and excavators out our classroom windows. It became very clear all children were enthralled. Using emergent curriculum, we quickly added small trucks and machinery into the sensory table. We asked family members if we could borrow similar items to put in the block area and in our outside sand pile. Children created safety vests and flagger signs. Months later, children can be observed using machinery vocabulary, wearing safety vests and making back-up beeping sounds.

Reflection is an important step in the observation process. Teachers review observations to coordinate their planning. They continually reevaluate how their curricular are contributing to each child’s growth and development. This gathered information can be shared with families. Educators gather information to summarize a child’s capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and challenges. When speaking with families the preschool teacher discussed a child’s strengths and capabilities. Then in collaboration with the family they discuss how those strengths can be used to create goals to work on areas of challenge. By collaborating with families, the parents feel a buy-in to working together to make the challenging skills improve. Most family members want information they can take home. It is a teacher’s choice to send home a written form or the child’s portfolio. Many educators feel sending the portfolio home allows families to really see and gain a better understanding of what a child’s day looks like.

Click HERE for more information on preschool assessment.

Assessment

Lesson 13 Quiz

1. List five activities a preschool teacher may observe when looking at the math domain.
2. What may a classroom teacher observe while watching a child during a cutting activity?
3. As an educator who sits in the dramatic play area, list ten things he might document?
4. Explain three reasons why it is important to keep documentation.
5. Why would share observations with families?